Em­bat­tled celebrity chef ’s home fetches R5m at Green Point sale

THE GREEN Point home of Ir­ish celebrity chef Con­rad Gal­lagher, who left South Africa un­der a moun­tain of debt, was auc­tioned for R5 mil­lion yes­ter­day.

The prop­erty in Ocean View Drive, Gal­lagher’s last as­set to be sold off, was bought by a Lon­don busi­ness­man, who did not wish to be named.

The de­signer three bed­room home has panoramic views, in­clud­ing of the new Cape Town Sta­dium, a guest apart­ment with kitch­enette, a large en­ter­tain­ment ter­race with an 8m lap-pool, and a pool room.

Gal­lagher, 38, was se­ques­trated in the Cape High Court in Au­gust. He re­cently re­turned to Ire­land with his wife, for­mer Miss PE fi­nal­ist Candice Coet­zee, and their two young sons. He left Ire­land a num­ber of years ago, also in debt.

Gal­lagher’s debt and court case was splashed in lo­cal and Ir­ish news­pa­pers.

The high court, re­ports said, granted a fi­nal se­ques­tra­tion or­der to MacBrothers Ca­ter­ing Equip­ment, which was owed about R350 000 for ca­ter­ing equip­ment sold to Gal­lagher’s Geisha Wok and Noo­dle Bar in the Cape Royale Lux­ury Ho­tel.

Absa also ob­tained a de­fault judg­ment in Fe­bru­ary for pay­ment of R4.6m.

His Fres­naye house was sold on auc­tion in May for R3.1m, leav­ing Absa with a short­fall of R1.8m.

Gal­lagher, a Miche­lin-star chef, ar­rived in Cape Town about five years ago, and Capeto­ni­ans lapped up sto­ries about how his guest list in­cluded Bono, Madonna, Mick Jag­ger and Pamela An­der­son.

But the sweet taste of suc­cess was short­lived, and in July 2008 Gal­lagher was hauled to court in con­nec­tion with his debts.

Re­ports said he re­ceived a monthly con­sul­tancy fee of R210 000 from Sun In­ter na­tional Ho­tels and an­other R75 000 a month from con­tracts with the Trump Group Dubai and St Regis Abu Dhabi.

Ap­pointed auc­tion­eer Jonathan Smiedt, head of the Clare­Mart Auc­tion Group, said the auc­tion “cre­ated quite a stir among lo­cal and for­eign buy­ers”.

“Apart from the se­ri­ous bid­ders, we also got those who were in­quis­i­tive to see where Gal­lagher lived.”

Smiedt said the pur­chase price was com­pet­i­tive and in line with prop­erty val­ues in the area.

PIC­TURE JEF­FREY ABRA­HAMS

STYLE: The Green Point prop­erty of celebrity chef Con­rad Gal­lagher was sold for R5 mil­lion – a good price in line with the area’s prop­erty val­ues, ac­cord­ing to the auc­tion­eer.